Working as a nurse practitioner is a highly fulfilling experience, but it certainly can introduce stress to your life. However, the most significant stress you undergo as a nurse practitioner might not happen on the job. Minnesota nurse practitioners might suddenly find themselves accused of professional misconduct that threatens their license and turns their whole world upside down.
If Minnesota officials have informed you of pending complaints or are asking you to explain your actions to investigators, the investigatory process is already underway. Don't attempt to take on the process alone while still keeping up with your duties as a nurse practitioner. The Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm is here to help, and we can start defending your license from disciplinary threats today. Contact us by phone at 888.535.3686 or reach out online to learn how our team can protect your Minnesota license.
Who Oversees Nurse Practitioner Licenses in Minnesota?
Like many other states, the Minnesota State Board of Nursing oversees licensing and disciplinary action for licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, including nurse practitioners. Minnesota is not currently a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, meaning the Minnesota Board of Nursing itself has greater control over how it issues licenses and manages nurses in the state.
The Board generally provides nurse practitioners the authority to practice as they see fit, as long as they follow the rules. Nurse practitioners, along with all other advanced practice registered nurses, have full prescriptive authority, and only new nurse practitioners require a collaborative management plan before working independently.
Grounds for Board Action and Discipline
The Minnesota Board of Nursing can take action against a nurse practitioner's license after formal disciplinary hearings or consent orders where the nurse practitioner agrees to the disciplinary action. While complaints may result in investigations into a nurse practitioner's conduct, the Board only has disciplinary authority if the misconduct is detailed within various state laws and guidelines, namely the Nurse Practice Act. Some of the most common grounds for disciplinary action include:
- Criminal Convictions: Having been convicted of a felony or gross misdemeanor reasonably related to nursing.
- Unprofessional Conduct: Performing unsafe practices, endangering patient safety, or failing to conform to standards set by the Board.
- License Issues: Failing to inform the Minnesota Board of updates to your nurse practitioner license status in another state or territory.
- Fraudulent Licensing: Using deceit or providing false information while applying for a license or taking examinations.
- Incompetence: Demonstrating a lack of ability to perform your duties responsibly and safely.
- Impairment Issues: Inability to perform your duties due to alcohol, drugs, other substances, or a mental or physical condition.
- Unethical Conduct: Engaging in conduct likely to defraud, deceive, or harm patients and the public.
- Sexual Misconduct: Being involved in any form of sexual exploitation or inappropriate behavior toward a patient.
- Unauthorized Practices: Practicing outside the scope of your duties allowed by law.
- Record-Keeping Violations: Failing to manage patient records adequately or failing to provide records to the Board when required by law.
Most of these grounds for action are specific to nurses and detailed within the Nurse Practice Act. Still, statewide laws that apply to all license holders also risk triggering disciplinary action. For example, failure to pay child support can trigger a license suspension in Minnesota.
Possible Disciplinary Actions Against Nurse Practitioners in Minnesota
The Board of Nursing can impose many sanctions on a nurse practitioner and their license after the investigatory and disciplinary process. Remember, there are very few scenarios where misconduct results in automatic sanctions or license restrictions. Before your investigation concludes, contact the Lento Law Firm and empower our Professional License Defense Team to communicate with the Board on your behalf to prevent serious disciplinary action. Potential disciplinary actions the Board of Nursing can take against nurse practitioners include:
- Denial of license
- Refusing to renew a license
- Temporary suspension of license
- Limitations on practice
- Required training and education
- Civil penalties
- Mandatory service without compensation
- Formal censures and reprimands
- Automatic suspensions without hearings
Actions taken by the Board against nurse practitioner licenses are public information in Minnesota, so risks to your career might result more from reputational damage than disciplinary action. The Lento Law Firm will work hard to represent you before the Board of Nursing during investigations and negotiations to prevent disciplinary action from showing up on your license.
Mandatory Reporting in Minnesota
Members of the public are not required to report alleged violations to the Board of Nursing. However, some people and institutions are required by law to report specific types of misconduct or disciplinary action to the Board or the Health Professionals Services Program. These mandatory reporters include:
- Insurers, who must provide the Board information about malpractice awards or settlements against a nurse practitioner
- Administrators of healthcare institutions, who must report to the Board when they take disciplinary action or a nurse practitioner resigns amid investigations
- Licensed health professionals, such as doctors, pharmacists, and other nurses, who must report any personal knowledge of misconduct
- Minnesota court administrators, who must report certain legal judgments of the court, such as criminal convictions or a determination of mental incompetence
These reports may not follow the traditional complaint process, as reporters can pass information directly to the Board or send it to an alternative program instead. This isn't entirely unique, as members of the public can also refer a nurse practitioner directly to the Health Professionals Services Program if they suspect illness, substance use, or other conditions might be the cause of misconduct. If you are under investigation due to a mandatory reporter, contact the Lento Law Firm to schedule a consultation and learn how we can help.
Complaint Process Against Nurse Practitioners in Minnesota
The Minnesota Board of Nursing encourages anyone to file a complaint against nurse practitioners if they believe they have violated a law, rule, or regulation. Some of the most common complainants include:
- Patients and their families
- Coworkers
- Subordinates
- Supervisors
- Other nurses involved in the incident
- Members of the public with concerns
The Board of Nursing provides ample guidance on what should be reported, encouraging those who see unsafe, incompetent, or unethical behavior to come forward with a complaint. Despite not offering an online complaint portal, complainants can still complete the entire process online by downloading a form and emailing it to the Board. With a lower barrier to entry for filing a complaint, Minnesota nurse practitioners may be at risk of false complaints, whether good faith or malicious.
Initial Complaint
Anyone who makes a complaint against a nurse practitioner can keep their identity confidential or completely anonymous. In both scenarios, the nurse practitioner will not learn who made the complaint; only relevant state officials will know the complainant's identity if they include it. The Board of Nursing typically recommends against anonymous complaints, as officials cannot follow up to learn more information or inform the complainant of the status of their report.
After receiving a complaint, the Board itself handles most investigations and assessments. In some specific cases, the Board may forward a complaint to the Minnesota Attorney General's Office for investigation while still retaining the ability to discipline a nurse practitioner in the future.
Preliminary Assessment
The Board reviews all misconduct complaints and reports to determine whether an allegation falls within its purview. As it can only handle complaints related to the Nurse Practice Act or other niche scenarios, this preliminary assessment can filter out bogus complaints or send the information along to another licensing board, if applicable.
Investigation and Review Panel
After determining that a complaint has merit and warrants further investigation, the Board assigns a staff member to oversee the case. During their investigation, they can obtain a nurse practitioner's medical and employment records, interview people related to the alleged conduct, and get in touch with complainants to hear more about the complaint.
After gathering initial evidence, the Board may send you a letter asking for your side of the story or invite you to a meeting to discuss the complaint in greater detail. Usually, this will be the first time you are aware of an ongoing investigation into your conduct.
In-person meetings aren't a casual get-together. Present at the meeting will be a Review Panel formed of Board members and staff whom an Assistant Attorney General advises. You have the right to legal representation during the investigation and resolution phase of the process, and you need to take advantage of this right. Contact the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team the same day the Minnesota Board of Nursing asks you to respond to a complaint or invites you to a meeting to discuss your actions.
Resolution
After investigations, the Review Panel will decide what discipline, if any, is warranted in this case. Most resolutions are agreements between the Board and the nurse practitioner, but they can lead to formal hearings if you or the Board reject proposed consent orders.
The most straightforward resolution to your complaint and investigation occurs when the Review Panel determines that insufficient evidence supports the claim that you broke the Nurse Practice Act rules and regulations. With the case closed, there will be no action on your license and no public record of disciplinary action. In a similar situation, the Review Panel may determine that there is sufficient evidence, but the behavior has already been corrected and does not warrant disciplinary action.
In cases where the Review Panel finds sufficient evidence of misconduct they feel can be corrected through education, they may recommend a collaborative Agreement for Corrective Action. If you agree to this public document, you must undergo additional training, but this is not disciplinary action against your license.
Finally, when the Review Panel determines discipline is warranted, they will work with your attorney to negotiate appropriate sanctions. The Board cannot take action if you disagree with their determinations, and all resolutions in this phase must be consensual. While your attorney may be able to negotiate in multiple rounds to secure the best possible terms, continually rejecting proposals for discipline from the Board will eventually lead to a contested case hearing.
Contested Case Hearing
If you and the Review Panel cannot agree, they will start preparing for a contested case hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. This hearing is similar to a court trial, and the Lento Law Firm can represent you during proceedings to help protect your license from sanctions.
After seeing the evidence, including witnesses and medical records, the judge will decide whether you violated Nurse Practice Act rules and regulations. If the evidence supports the allegations, the Nursing Board once again decides on appropriate disciplinary action.
Disciplinary orders, either consensual agreements or hearing results, are public documents that detail your misconduct and the resulting disciplinary action. Even if your behavior wasn't particularly bad, you might desire to keep your name off public documents and reduce damage to your reputation as much as possible. To achieve this goal, contact the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm today. The earlier you involve our attorneys in the process, the more involved we can be during negotiations with the Board to limit public disciplinary action against you and your license.
Appeals
Nurse practitioners have a limited right to appeal following a contested case hearing and board decision. The complaint investigation and resolution process can take over a year, even longer if hearings are necessary. While the Lento Law Firm can help with any part of the process, make sure to contact us as soon as possible. Even if your disciplinary process is over, we can still take charge of appeals.
You can appeal a Board order regarding your nurse practitioner license to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. If you still don't get the desired resolution, your only other option is to appeal directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court. If you want to appeal, our Professional License Defense Team can build a strong case and present it before the Court of Appeals, giving you the best shot of improving your license situation without resorting to Supreme Court hearings.
Defending Nurse Practitioner Licenses Across Minnesota
The Lento Law Firm can help protect your nurse practitioner license no matter where you work. We have defended nurse practitioners working at some of the largest employers in Minnesota, including:
- Mayo Clinic – Rochester
- Abbott Northwestern Hospital – Minneapolis
- CentraCare St Cloud Hospital – St Cloud
- Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center – Duluth
- M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital – Edina
- Mercy Hospital – Coon Rapids
- United Hospital – Saint Paul
Before agreeing to disciplinary action or sitting for meetings with Board investigators, contact the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm to gain a partner throughout the investigatory and resolution processes.
License Defense for Minnesota Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners have demanding jobs and don't deserve to face harsh punishment that can affect their future career opportunities in the state. As soon the Board of Nursing informs you of investigations into your conduct, our Professional License Defense Team can spring into action.
The Lento Law Firm has provided top-notch license defense to nurse practitioners across the United States and within the Minnesota healthcare system. Contact us today at 888.535.3686 or through our confidential online form.
